The present invention relates to an improved bag handling portion of an automatic weigher/bagger machine of the type in which produce is packed, the improvement residing in the manner in which mesh bags are handled by the machine.
By way of background, automatic weigher/bagger machines of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,454 are known. In addition, there are in use bag handling portions of weigher/bagger machines which mount sheet plastic bags on the prongs of wicket bars. The prongs extend through tabs which are extensions of one side of the bags, while the other side of the bags are unattached. A vacuum nozzle pulls the unattached side of the bag to produce an open mouth in the bag which receives spade members. When one of the spade members is pulled away from the other spade member, it rips the bag off of its mounting tab because of the fact that there is only a small amount of sheet plastic connecting the tab to the side of the bag. The present invention relates to a modification of the foregoing type of bagger machine which handles mesh bags of the type having spaced filaments which are joined to each other at their crossover junctions rather than sheet plastic bags.